The New Territory connects readers to the whole Lower Midwest. Send us your stories.

Literature Submission Guidelines

The New Territory cultivates regional identity through narrative journalism, provocative commentary, fresh literature and meaningful art. Contributors include emerging and established voices of the south-central US, including Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska.

Our literature section seeks fiction, poetry, nonfiction, drama, comics, and genre-benders with teeth, a heart, and a roving intelligence trained on and emerging from this region.

Completed submissions and queries should be directed to lit@newterritorymag.com with your name and the genre of the piece you are submitting/inquiring about in the subject line.

Women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and the differently abled are strongly encouraged to send their work our way. We want to hear from you!

The New Territory is a paying market, and also publishes long-form journalism.

Spring/Summer Submissions are open April 3 until May 1.

Parameters

Length

Prose and drama: Up to 25 pages

Poetry: Up to 10 pages or 5-8 poems, with each poem beginning on a new page

Comics: Inquire first

File Type and Setup

Please include a cover letter as the first page of your submission.

File name should begin with author’s last name and include genre of submission

.docx and .rtf files preferred for poetry, prose and drama

.pdf preferred for comics and acceptable in other genres if there’s a good reason for it

Journalism Pitch Guidelines

In your pitch, show what your story’s about (characters, narrative arc, relevance to the Territory), your plans for the text (length, how soon it could be ready for publication), who you are, and why you’re the person to write the story.

Features and profiles: In 3-5 paragraphs, pitch profile stories for “Network” and longform features, which will run no fewer than 2,000 words of narrative, investigative or immersion stories from the Lower Midwest.

Yes, we will pay you. And if you’re an emerging writer with a great idea, we’ll connect you with an editor who can help make your story sing, so please don’t let experience keep you from pitching.

Photography and Art Submission Guidelines

The New Territory wants to publish the work of our region’s artists and photographers. If you want to submit your work for consideration, please follow these guidelines:

We’ll consider anything, from anyone. If you or your work has a tie to the lower Midwest, we’ll consider it! We aim for diversity in subject, media, and location. Landscape photos are welcome, but images featuring other subjects (architecture, people, animals) get bonus points.

Please send no more than five images. We appreciate receiving a well-curated selection of work. Let us know if you’ve got more, and we may ask to see it.

Initial images can be sent in any size or format. Whatever is convenient for you is convenient for us! We accept links to services like Google Drive and Dropbox, as well as email attachments.